Eskimo North

The overzealousness of the music industry in protecting the interests of the artists that they chew up and toss out, led me to search out music that is "Off The Grid" of the RIAA. There's a great big world out there, and people everywhere are creating music. Asian and African people are great consumers of music, and not all of them are listening to mp3's of Britney Spears snagged off of The Pirate Bay.

I've found thousands of albums online that have never been released in the U.S. or Europe, and some of them are amazing. My own preference lies in the area of Japanese rock, and I'm not alone, as many acts that have performed for years (or decades) in Japan are starting to get gigs in the U.S., and even releasing records on U.S. independent labels.

My musical taste runs towards guitar driven, blues inspired rock. The Japanese band The Birthday just released an album, Teardrop that rocks very hard. All the members of The Birthday are veteran rockers who are held in awe throughout Asia. The album is available at cdjapan for a hefty markup:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/list_from_code ... key=396477

Their previous album, also available from that page, Rollers Romantics, is also great.

For an overview of what's hot in Jrock in the U.S., visit http://www.rockofjapan.com